Tag: maine small town living

  • Blogging On Maine | Little Red Log Lake Camp

    Blogging On Maine | Little Red Log Lake Camp

    Blogging on Maine, posts on local news.

    Smaller local community newspapers, radio stations, any television broadcast outlet if your Maine area is lucky enough to have one struggle to stay in the black ink. A steady decline in population and rising costs caused the problem. As those local “news voices” become regional, then statewide entities, the reader, listener and viewership lose out on the pulse of whatever Maine town they serve. This post on blogging on Maine.

    battling coronovirus
    Battling Coronovirus, Whatever Life Dragon Needing Slaying. Small Maine Town Living Blog Posts. Helping People Who Are Thinking Moving, Relocating To Maine.

     

    Maine’s simple way of living surrounded by all this natural unspoiled beauty is more popular than ever though.

    I believe with high speed Internet chased down, heavily funded and implemented through beefed up connections around Maine communities, that our population will stabilize, then grow. COVID19 has taught naysayers that you can bring your work home with you and operate efficiently in the virtual high tech World. The eight out of ten people living in a city trend is reversing. The search for low cost land and lots of space around where you live is causing many to head for the country hills of Maine.

    Blogging on Maine.

    Telling the story of everything Maine. The state of Maine already had more second homes that any other state for a reason. It is easy to forget just how lucky a native Mainer is to be here full time. Now those vacation getaways are being reworked big time. Taking what was a simple Maine cottage or camp and retooling it into more is the trend statewide. I talk with other Maine REALTORS and the Maine Listing numbers bears out the up tick in real estate activity. Quarantined for two weeks, folks carry on their person those 72 hour tests showing no high temps and a negative test for COVID19.

    small town maine living
    Locals Are Put To Work On Maine Community Events. Year After Year For Life.

    People in a city setting have been on house arrest and severely cooped up, doing lots of online searches.

    Self study, hunkered down. Low on hugs, stuck in the cell of four all too familiar walls. Those in rural Maine are well aware of COVID19 too. But adapting quicker to it to preserve their unique community quality of life. There are less obstacles. That’s what the blog post follower learns as post after post tell it like it is from a local who lives here and loves Maine. Those in the blog post audience have a connection to Maine or wish they did. Many starting to think what about moving, relocating to Maine.

    As the migration out of Maine to meet financial career objections gets questioned by those jammed in a city, what about Vacationland? The Maine small rural setting as the better way life solution is being discussed in lots of out of state households. Family decisions to move to Maine are common conversations these days.

    Case in point, I personally have a little Maine log lake cottage property.

    The little red waterfront structure originally built in 1959 and an addition added on about fifteen years later. I bought it at first only because the peace and quiet next door due to the place just not being used could all change in a real estate transfer.

    little red log lake camp
    The Before Image Of The Little Red Log Lake Camp Up In Maine.

    The small, cozy red log lake camp bought partially out of fear of losing the solitude now enjoyed.

    Knowing the best neighbor is often just no neighbor right? Wanting to continue to enjoy the lake loons singing or crying depending on your perspective on any given day or night without a noisy neighbor. The LC Andrews traditional log cabin purchased also because waterfront properties in Maine are never in large enough supply. The selection is limited and the demand is Jedi force strong within people who desperately need recreational water. It was a good investment and for possible rental use being very careful on when and to who Maine vacations next door. I have been spoiled by no one using the little red camp which can give you a false sense of don’t need to own it. Nothing like a bad neighbor to spoil a Maine lake setting.

    little red log lake camp
    Wake Up To A Maine Lake. Would That Improve Your Day? Sheltering In Place With High Speed Internet Not So Hard To Take Hunkering Down In Maine.

    The lack of use by the family that once owned the entire point of a Maine lake meant the structure was in need of repair and renovation.

    So over the winter months, the Maine lake cottage torn apart like the Wizard of Oz scare grow. Re-stuffed and put back together with a lot of thought. Google simple vacation cottage ideas and search the images, videos and blog posts on that topic. I did for inspiration to learn what I did want, what would not happen to shape the new and improved parked next door log structure sharing the Maine waterfront.

    rehab of maine lake camp
    Rip It Out, Replace It Slowly. Feathering The Nest Of A Maine Lake Property.

    Input from my kids because they would be the primary users of the place and should have a say in how the cottage transformed right? Lots of native Maine woodwork added to replace paneling. Pretty much one man running the hammer and power tools kicked the rehab project into a slow but steady gear. Only so much space and maximizing it, improving the layout for simple lakeside living on the Maine waterfront.

    Jimmy was glad to be able to work so close to home because he lives on the other side of the same Maine lake in Northern Maine.

    He appreciates the Maine lake as much as I do. You see he, his wife Debbie, a golden retriever together plying the water slowly each summer night as another sunset approaches.

    It was something different each day for the many projects ahead to keep the routine anything but boring.

    There is something extremely satisfying working on the A to Z pretty much by your lonesome. When you see it taking shape, as the momentum with a crow bar and finish nails to what replaces whatever is torn out to hauled away to the transfer station. A local plumber, electrician, hardware store clerks too. And plenty of mail order for whatever you can not buy in a small Maine town combined for the finished product..

    This little Maine log lake cottage is now the home away from home.

    Ready to go online. To create a reprieve for one daughter, her husband too and the proud parents of a new born son. To create a pod in Maine where only another brother, his wife and their eighteen month old daughter are in the COVID19 free circle of life. Internet with 25 meg broadband speed is connected to the little red log lake camp way up north in Maine. That is the connection to the outside World, the same one used to telecommute online to work daily for the son in law who lives in Bean Town. He can make the leap only because of Internet connectivity to this remote rural outpost. Working from home, educating kids from your house not at public or private school facilities. Blogging about Maine all needs a strong Internet connection that does not go flat or missing.

    maine lake waterfront sign
    What One Waterfront Property Owner Has On One Maine Real Estate Listing Sold From The Past.

    The Maine town I live in is lucky too.

    Because every single household within the community borders has access to Internet fiber for blazing 100 megs broadband connection speed. The Internet company is based in my home town, not far away. The local electrical provider that powers the same little red camp is community owned, not for profit. If it makes money, the funds are used to further improve the grid lines or the rate the consumer pays is lowered.

    I see my little Maine town growing and connected to the outside World for commerce and enterprise. But offering the home grown local community flavor of friendly small town living. With COVID19, everything back six feet or more and observed wearing a mask. In my job, disposable gloves, booties to complete the mask ensemble for safety sake are standard garb for everyone’s protection.

    land in maine on a lake
    Land In Maine On The Waterfront. That’s Ambrosia, The Eye Candy Of The Gods.

    Single line please, limited entry and please, no one tough anything in the home or apartment unit being toured these days in Maine real estate.

    Or better yet, one on one face-time or using the whats app phone firmware to take the personal self guided tour to follow up on the real estate video already uploaded and being watched around the clock by more than the local buyers.

    So blogging in Maine, why local residents who live her need to do it. Because the trek north up into Maine is a long one taking hours of time when travel is restricted and not so easy. The days of just hopping into whatever you drive or clopping down the airport plane gate connector to locate your seat number are stalled. The search online is critical and the local Maine blogger is the signal being tapped into and trusted for information. The media sources in a small Maine town were already pretty slim pickings. All due to the small populations tapped to support the news and entertainment outlets. Blogging on Maine can be like pot luck. Not sure of what you are gonna get and it is a lot like feast or famine.

    maine farm horses
    Hanging Around, The Livestock, Horses, Wildlife Too Happier Like The People Lucky Enough To Live In Maine.

    What’s it like living where you do in Maine?

    Show me images, upload videos of the local community events, create Maine blog posts please. Anything Maine. When something is missing where you live now, the itch to pull up stakes and relocate only grows stronger. People all over the World are considering am I where I need to be for my family ‘s sake? Is there a change underway that means don’t get too comfortable and a move to Maine, somewhere else is in the cards? Blogging on Maine, I do that because it’s hard to contain the excitement of being blessed to live here. I know it is not like this many other places.

    Is there something missing in your life?

    That is what usually is pushing the move to Maine. The pleasure on a past vacation fuels the fondness for Maine too. The slogan is Maine, the way life should be. That is the greatest motivation to consider Maine for a simple vacation getaway or with COVID19 much more happens. To propel the delicious dream of moving to Maine. Many smart forward thinking small Maine towns are retooling with gusto. The same vigor as the planet hunts down a virus reversal vaccine. Because it is the key to survival. Internet connectivity is the life line to avoid loss of the small Maine town lifestyle.

    nudist skinny dipping in maine
    Nudists, Skinny Dipping In Maine. Ever Snipe Hunted Or Used A Dip Net At Night Smelting On A Maine Lake?

    America, the World in general is rethinking where is the best place to live for the highest quality of life.

    Examining what exactly at this stage of your life makes what area the best stage for obtaining the most of what is really important in life.

    So back to searching for the final touches to complete the feathering of the nest. Put together one of the two twin beds in the spare bedroom Sunday afternoon. In the off hours when you have a job that is a jealous master for your time because you work when others don’t and are available, it’s search for ideas. To find out solutions to the lake camp needs to make it a home away from home for whatever family member needs a safe haven. A roof over their head in Maine. I have two weeks to wrap up the finishing touches before the grandson and his support duo arrive to quarantine in place.

    home made maine pies
    Small Pleasures Are the Big Reward. Anything Home Made, That’s Simple Living In Maine To Sample And Enjoy.

    Blogging about simple living in Maine is important to anyone out there searching for current, accurate, helpful information.

    What’s it like living in small town Maine? The questions are answered best by someone who lives and is invested in the small Maine community. Not a giant news gathering operation in a major market many hours away. Who has other topics to cover like high crime, friction caused from too many people in too small a high cost living space.

    What’s important to a small Maine community is very different than what you get fed by journalists in large urban markets too.

    Heck, even in Maine that has only a handful of cities, what is broadcast from Portland, Lewiston-Auburn, Bangor-Brewer is not always representative out in sticks. You can get a county or state perspective or a slant on the tie in for a national news story as it trends. But what about the local happenings in a small Maine town. Blogging on Maine topics is what this post platform tries to do with not just words but imagery, video embeds.

    flower pots in maine
    A Maine Flower Pot. Not Always Red Orange, A Small, Conventional Container. Use What You Have For Win Win Maine Unique.

    These days, more people want to be rural if they have the Internet tether for income and the security connection. For the peace and quiet and simpler living. Maine is natural beauty, not crowded, less fighting over which direction to take. Small groups can reach a consensus quicker and start the steps today to implement what is needed to survival and quality of life.

    Grass roots and home grown also makes a person feel like empowered living in small town Maine.

    Like they are a cog in the wheel and vitally needed. Like being loved, everyone wants to feel needed. You are in a small Maine town that only has so many people to tackle the problems collectively.

    A steady journal of daily or weekly happenings tapping into the blogging channel. Maine bloggers are the story tellers, the ambassadors to their local area where the hunt and peck original posts put their communities on the map. Posting images of Maine beauty to prove the point and to remind themselves. Proud of where we live, concerned about the national events in our country. Glad to live where it is less frustrating because we all are not passively watching but actively doing. Blog posts on Maine simple living tell the story from where it happens.

    maine moose
    Can I Have A Little Privacy Please? I’m Bathing!

    The small Maine communities are a tight knit fabric of people.

    Hands on to pitch in along the front lines. No one takes a back seat, it’s all hands on deck because the entire village has a role in what happens there. We’re not spectators and whine or complain but do nothing. In small Maine towns, each and everyone of the population is empowered to make a difference.

    wildlife entertain on maine lake
    Our Waterfront Friends Entertain For Free. The Kids Part Of The Family Act Out Front Of A Maine Waterfront Property.

    Small Maine towns are places where folks wave, make eye contact, worry about elderly shut ins.

    We are protective. The small spread out population is invested in what happens in the area. When a community loses a member, you think about family a lot. We are so inter-connected living and working together in small Maine town activities. Blogging on Maine means some of that day to day spills into the Me In Maine channel. That’s the stuff mainstream media on the national level does not cover.

    You know the people who live around you and in many instances are somehow related in Maine.

    Or worked together on a school board project, a local church event or coached little league, some other team sport together on the same bench. Pitch in and get behind whatever is needed and be prepared you are going to have the volunteer job for life. Blogging on Maine. I blog about what it is like living in Maine. Why I love living here in Maine.

    I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

    207.532.6573 |  info@mooersrealty.com 

    MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

  • Working Hard To Attract Small Maine Town Tourists.

    The tourists who wander into your small Maine town.

    Looking to see a Maine moose, dine on lobster or a bucket of steamed clams. To get a t-shirt or nick nack labeled Maine. There is more that your Maine tourist is after after they cross the big green bridge on the south end of the Pine Tree State. The shift from cookie cutter tourist traps with all the franchises, a sea of sameness is not what your traveler is after these days. Too many other places peddling that out there in the wild blue yonder. Slinging the hash with the same tired buzz lines on pick me, pick me to vacation.

    Small Rural Maine Communities. The Lifestyle Day To Day, Culture And Heritage Are What Tourist Travelers Want To Sample.

    Unique, fresh, real is sought after in every experience all of us seek out today right? Like watching re-runs, something new and different always trumps same old same old. Give me something new and different please.

    Maine is all over “it is not like this anywhere else.” You’ve heard the slogan “Maine, the way life should be.” So preserving, capitalizing on the small Maine town rural lifestyle. What makes the small community special and stand out. It starts with the locals realizing how lucky they are to just live full time in a low crime, little traffic setting. With all this natural unspoiled beauty and friendly helpful people. There is an intimate connection in a small Maine town where folks work together to create the sense of community. People wave, smile, help out and know “if it is to be, it is up to me.”.

    It is not like that in a city back drop where eye contact and personal interaction is avoided at all costs. Where underlying fear is just part of the stress of living with all these people in your face. Trying to negotiate a crowded sidewalk face with a sea of faces coming at you in all directions like asteroids. And road rage. Those hand gestures are not waves.

    What’s the best way to create the local home town pride re-energized?

    Two weeks of therapeutic living in a blighted urban population center. Get on the bus, round up the locals of Maine, make the wheels go round and round.  Jam lots of people way way too close together in a smelly, noisy, too many shadows of a cold, not so friendly concrete jungle and watch out. Stand back. See what happens as tempers flare, respect is lost and personal living space is invaded. Then bring back those transplanted rural locals from the shell shocking of the city living. They won’t forget the contrast and count their blessings on what we do have, what we don’t that makes Maine a jewel. And the locals will be grounded. To begin again to count the reasons why they are country mice in rural Maine small towns. And making it fun, affordable, casual for those visiting it. Maine fun is outdoors. Low or no cost once you get here. That is what the high cost of living vacationers with strapped out of town finances want. What overbooked, worrisome travelers seek to unplug and recharge when they dial in the  relaxation mode considering Maine.

    Like anywhere, there are Mainers who will bitch and complain about everything from the weather to the cost of tea in China. Not the buzz to relay, not the signal to send to attract a tourist best. To convey the notion that this place is worth spending some time and money. Deep down in the gray matter they call themselves died in the wool Mainers with a strong constitution. To tackle anything coming down the pike. But they forget why they live here due to discouragement that dims the resiliency. Some natives just resist change as they cling to the past as they growing older.

    maine apple cide pressing
    What We Do For Fun, Tourist Want To Tap Into The Local Community Lifestyle That Is Refreshingly Real And Natural.

    When you grew up and enjoyed prosperity in a small Maine town. Then erosion happen to the simple way of life. And you witness the hustling, bustling, thriving small Maine town rural economies drying up. Combined with the cost of living escalating. It is easy to lament and have a pity party. To wonder what happened.

    Some habitually start to whine without knowing it. And without adapting, re-tooling mentally to approach the local economy differently. It is easy to forget what you liked than made you stay in the small Maine community. And when some of those elements are missing you can start humming the should I stay or should I go Clash song.

    Where to put the energies collectively as a small rural Maine town, to be a good ambassador to the area.

    Beat the drum loudly. What you want, what your tourist is after. It’s not always a topic where agreement on testy topics scores very high. What you want to see take place in a small Maine town may not be realistic. Due to small numbers in the population to underwrite expenses. And the need to have volume to monetize the endeavor. Everything runs on a business chassis and the small Maine town economy is no different. Otherwise, last guy or gal out shut off the lights on Main Street in small downtown communities.

    Remember the joy of life as a kid on a school recess yard playing? Getting along and having fun should not be lost on youth. Our adult attitude, thinking about putting your best foot forward and preserving what we do have to brag up. Making a list. Preaching and seeing to it that everyone is promoting the same local attractions. Getting excited first yourself so it oozes out in all you say, do, fell. Adding to the list with anything missing that your tourist is after. Not just what you want but what they seek that other areas offer. Capitalize on that. What f you were in the moccasins of a new to the area, passing through your burg tourist. Become that character in the local audience.

    Nothing like a steady flow of tourist dollars into the local coffers to improve a small Maine town community. As long as the down home simple nature of the small Maine town is not totally revamped. And the live and local is lost in the process.

    maine fishing boat on lake
    No Walls, No People, All Real And Natural. Bask In That Vacationing In Maine. That’s What Attracts Maine Tourists.

    The winds of change, what is today’s traveler to Maine now after?

    What they have lost in their area and is no longer seen. An experience with agri-tourism is part of the splash. Heritage tourism. Re-living the past in farmers museums part of the show and tell to someone brand new to the area of Maine where you hail. The rich folklore of lumber camps, timbering vast forests when timber was king. The fishing and hunting haunts. The recreational trails of Maine that dot the map need to be easily found, heavily promoted. Interstate connections have to be as strong as possible for the tourist to stay in touch online.

    Attracting Maine tourists. The natural lure to tangle and tease is the eye candy imagery. Promoting outdoor natural activities like a river canoe or kayak race that just don’t happen in pollution centers. Where the crowd of people have to spend their time staying safe, their heads above water financially paying for this, that and the simmering stress demanding some vegging out time in Maine. Where it can be so quiet that you do hear yourself think. Where wildlife habitats can soothe the stings and scars of the price paid for city living. That does not come without a cost.

    The local food, the yarn stories shared with tourists about how the local turf runs, how the small Maine town got to this point along the way. History of the area is rich and rewarding if shared with a local person to person. Not a few lines machined and printed on the four color brochure that was not written by a local resident of the small Maine town. Tell me, show me why you live in the small Maine town. Let the tourist consider if they did and they will return when treated like they already live here. Brag up big wigs who for years have trot trotted from Boston and beyond to Maine.

    Getting into the habit of really wanting to help the brand new to the community tourist. The ones who ask for directions or to get the insider tip on where is a good place to eat, to stay. Answering the “what do you do for fun” question with a slew of suggestion for the traveling through your area tourist. Give him or her, their families reasons for hanging around.

    By saying and meaning it sincerely after you provide the local information. With a smile, “I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in my corner of Maine.” A good habit if you really believe to have friends you need to be one. So the stranger is not one for long because of a gracious glad you are here feeling conveyed to them. That shows you the local are pretty darn happy and you know it. Clap you hands. Stamp your feet. (Now that song is stuck in a loop in your head. S0 sorry. Really)

    It’s never been a better time to be a small rural Maine community that steps it up to attract more tourism dollars. Heck the bottom of the Maine license plate made at the state prison is the black and white reminder. “Vacationland” is thee nickname of Maine for a good reason, adopted many moons ago.

    ice cutting in maine
    The Old Traditions Should Be Preserved And Promoted. Small Maine Towns Don’t Benefit From Forgetting Their Cultural Roots Which Helps The Tourism Dollars Bottom Line.

    What made, still makes the small Maine town great? It takes critical thinking and getting ready for tourism to help the process along. And not trying to make the rural, sparsely populated placed thrown into the ring. To go toe to toe with a larger city approach to tourism. We are not in the same weight class and compete different. We hold different marketing cards to play in the game of tourist attraction. That many other small Maine towns are around the same poker table. After those same tourists to come see ME, my area of Maine.

    We did have a number of Phish concerts in Northern Maine at the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone. But to attract those kinds of numbers to shake and grove to Maine on a large B-52 size runway through out the year is probably not realistic. Chalk Dust Torture in the winter with hands overhead swaying even with legalized pot is not going to happen.

    Discussions locally on what we should be pushing for and what would or not work can go poorly. If you disagree and point out why. Not everyone respects your difference of opinion when discouraged and looking for a quick fix. A bandaid for a gunshot wound. Because they see the small Maine town as something it is not. Instead of what it is capable of sustaining with manpower and dwindling available dollars. Where the small town or regional area of Maine could shine brightly if a different, collectively agreed upon direction is taken. It takes many late night meetings and heated discussions. A plan Stan that gets launched and modified with tweaks along the way.

    famouse people who vacation in maine
    Jack Dempsey, Ted Williams, Teddy Roosevelt, Stephen King, Martha Stewart, The Bushes On The Compound At Walker’s Point. Lots Of Celebrities Pick Maine For Fun And Casual Vacationing. Play That Card In The Tourism Promotion.

    Don’t wait for government to fix it or adjust the “sales” to foster more Maine tourism. It takes individual grass roots effort on the local level to step up and take on the volunteering. You have to have the locals buying in and knowing leadership is on the right path.

    To invest in small tourism-fueled businesses to make the Maine rural town a destination starts with what are your strengths and weaknesses. What are you selling. And not for the entire vacation week or long weekend of the tourist. But partnering with other areas. To catch the traveler coming and going.

    Maine is lucky to be next door to Canada, to make it a two nation vacation. Local food, local attractions and a connection to the lifestyles of local people is what they want. They get bored if they don’t get fed that. Share the tourist and building their trip with other in-state and out of country partners over home eh? To get them to return for more. It is more than one visit we are after right boys and girls? Make it a habit. Let the tug on the heartstrings of Maine be a strong one. That vacation falls in love with Maine’s allure hook, line and sinker. And does not care at all that they are powerless to stay away from her charms.

    know house thomaston maine
    Know House Thomaston Maine Is One Big Residence With Rich History, Plenty Of Bedrooms.

    They like it, they love it, they want some more of it like the song suggest. They don’t know why but the small town promoting it’s best features does.

    The traveling tourist want to see the small rural towns, handful of cities in Maine the way they are. Putting on the tourism goggle to see the local area the way someone who has never been here before does. That critical look through the lens makes it clear where to push the tourism promotion levers.

    If we already have visitors coming to fish, bike, hike, hunt, river raft, and relax, keep banging the drum geared for that audience segment. Keep spreading the word and tapping the social media channels about wildlife, clean water, fresh air and all this natural four season space.

    Without that tourism lens put on, though, it is easy to miss the value and opportunity of the traffic that outdoor recreation already generates. To see the subtle differences all the areas of Maine offer to the tourist. Like what happens when you venture into say Downeast Maine. The culture, heritage and real day to day not something spun or artificial slick is what the Griswald’s are after to experience on a family vacation to Maine.

    I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

    207.532.6573 |  info@mooersrealty.com

    MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA

  • Child Like Curiosity, You Never Lose It With Kids In The Picture.

    Learning never stops and we are all beginners right?

    The job not done and often the “aha moments” come from the least expected places. I talked to a past local Maine town council chairman who said back in the 1980’s he was gung ho to cure the ills in local government. To tighten it up and straighten it out.

    He said he was so sure of the obvious that he would say “that is stupid that we do blah blah blah”.

    Confident that another way would be so much better. Why the delay. Come on people. Folks don’t you, others see this or that? Until he got knee deep into the process, the eye opening meat of the matter.

    Small Maine Town Living, Getting Along.
    Simple Child Like Curiosity, Respect For The Fragile In All Relationships.

    Taking the time to visit a small Maine town department head. Asking a veteran councilor of present or past service for the background details. And learns “we tried it the way you suggest and this is what happened. Why we went back to the old way for now.”

    The why it would work or not then, maybe now either. Is a mystery to the brand new looking in from the outside perspective. What seems so obvious. Is a little more complicated than the surface skim take away provides.

    This same local resident admits now freely, the only thing “stupid” was his early shoot from the hip remarks.

    But he did not know the history of where we were, how we got here. Was not well versed in the more complicated issues surrounding the decision making. Why what at first glance he thought would work better did not in the final group decisions needed that would shape life in the small Maine town of tomorrow.

    The eventual council chairman needed to do his homework. To keep an open mind, stay positive and objective. To log some hours asking the hard danced around questions. Truly listening with both ears. Parked pie hole. Not talking to envision the best course of action as a group. Decision and policy making that is hammered out, fashioned by a collection of public servants. During lots of long meetings with heated dialogue. Seasoned hot and juicy in the served up spirited discussion.

    But guided always with respect, leadership, easy does it on the rhetoric. No spin. And the loud and clear sincere desire to work together to succeed not fail. For the best possible solution set selection.

    Getting Along When You Live In Maine
    We Live In Maine, We Keep It Simple. Have To.

    No back biting, stabbing from behind or taking anything too personal in late night differences in opinions.

    No hair crossed and up in arms for the I’ll show them a thing or two. That has zip to do with the proceedings. Causing the Johnny get your gun.

    The need for retaliation that steals time away from seeking the shared destination every property taxpayer is watching. No thank you said to any personal attacks that just makes everyone in the room cringe, wilt, fade.

    To feel like they are slumped over in the saddle. Circling aimlessly round and round on a horse in the desert with no name. The all track of time lost and lacking any real concrete resolution. Making the room thirst with sun parched, blistered lips. For just a simple cup, swig of refreshing peace. In the white flag, regrouping, retreating to begin again and again.

    The sit up, drink, rinse, swish, spit (repeat) to remove the bitterness the taste of personal attacks leaves. The lash the other to a stake, their feet surrounded by tinder dry kindling and smile. Saying “there, anyone have a wooden match?” debate that ensues. Getting your way by warning don’t cross me. Yikes.

    Distracted from what is actually for the greater good happens when pettiness is allowed. That robs the peace, sets the destructive tone. De-railing the calm that is the required petri dish atmosphere for cultivating positive reasoned results. Brainstorming, batting around what if we try this, would that work toward the end goal?

    The progress that needs to happen because we are wasting daylight. Burning way way too much midnight oil inching forward. Making it harder than it needs to be and highly unproductive. Attacking people, not problems is never pretty. Why do people do it?

    Maybe adults have too much on their minds that makes us miss the obvious.

    Or don’t want to keep an open one. Or are chasing the wrong butterflies, focused on the ends of the ill picked rainbow agendas. To rewrite their history that went sideways. Long gone water over the dam, under the bridges burned one by one to light the path ahead.

    Maine Small Towns, Getting Along.
    Refreshing, Water Over The Dam Means Regrouping To Work Together In Small Maine Towns.

    When we make it more complicated than we need to because of all the rabbit trails we can side track, get lost on during the discussion. You have to start and end with why that happens in the soul searching. What makes you tick? What is the combination and inside that little black box flight recorder blinking signal. Parked next to that soul.

    A child does not have all that fanfare in their decision making.

    Not a lot of history when you are only flying at three or four feet off the ground. Their filtering involves just eight crayons. Tucked inside a small flapped box of simple choices. To reach for a blend as their paint by number experience grows. They don’t like confrontation, dissension and don’t understand conflict argument resolution.

    Kids don’t have all the history of past experiences to color their perceptions good or bad. They operate more with trust, faith, their gut of what feels good or bad. They also want to see the good, only the pure in others. Because they operate on that receptor premise. They keep it simple because they are. Until life black and blue sucker punches happen. Bruised purple spots one by one are added to their tender hearts. Hurt people hurt people.

    Looking For Life Answers? Find Them In Maine.
    Rough Seas Outside Maine, Come Ashore, Land Your Vessel.

    Reduce it all down and think about what does it take to get along to make changes in a small Maine town that can not afford to bicker.

    People don’t like change. It scares them.

    The unknown always does. But if it has to happen wouldn’t it be better to shape it than be out of the loop for where it ends up with no input? If you and I are lost in the process it is a ship heading for rocks in the darkness.

    Or if we one by one don’t strike a match. Light, shield, hold high and protect the candle in the wind as Elton sang about with harmony and tinkling ivories. Promoting love, peace, sometimes a truce, just taking a deep breath in relationships around us. If we don’t realize how we help or hurt the process of making it at least as good as or over the top better than it was for all concerned.

    I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
    207.532.6573
    info@mooersrealty.com

  • Duplication Of Services And Embracing Technology In A Small Maine Town.

    Maine Small Town Living Is Frugal, Low Cost.
    Overspending In A Small Maine Town Is Not A Long Term Option For Survival.

    Maine is a large state off the beaten path loaded with unique small towns.

    Over 100 communities in Vacationland struggle daily with increasing costs to keep the lights on, doors open and to stay out of the spending red ink. To preserve the special character of each Maine town faced with the same financial challenges.

    When local, county and state governmental services overlap, the small Maine town does not have the luxury of ignoring duplication.

    But due to the fierce independent nature of small Maine towns, brainstorming for new ways to work together for the same end result done more efficiently can be a touchy subject. And there are road blocks to who has what role in the implementation of the new and improved approach to remove slack and meet legal mandates, obligations for safe level of services.

    Take law enforcement in a typical small Maine town. Where crime is 46th lowest in the state of Maine compared to the rest of the nation. If state police budgets are strained, when county government spending is threatened with needed tax increases and local town departments continually scrabble to find additional cost saving measures, all share a similar mission to serve and protect. But within a certain size collective budget. Joining forces to avoid overlap, duplication of services is critical for the survival of the small Maine town way of life.

    Not exactly titillating Maine newspaper reporting fodder to carve out an ongoing space in the newsprint or a segment on a local broadcast to cover.

    Just like Maine school budgets. But crucial for improving the bottom line spending in a small Pine Tree state town. And when already being done, don’t keep it a secret for the morale of the local Maine town taxpayers. Who easily could jump to the conclusion there is waste a foot in departments where the local hire wears a gun and a badge. Or administers the reading, writing and arithmetic life skills.

    What is already being done by the three layers of governmental agencies toward the goal of saving money but together providing the same or better level of service is big local news. If a headline read “Local Maine gas guzzling police cruisers turned off, left in park”. And the story went on to explain that video cameras around the small Maine town streets being monitored at HQ for anything fishy. And when a call comes in, or something looks out of place, the cruiser is dispatched. Not roaming up and down the streets the old fashion wear and tear on equipment way. But using the portal already opened and streaming on Maine town traffic light intersections.

    And speeding not longer hit or miss with radar in a cruiser in the right place at the right time. Technology allowing rock solid evidence you went through an intersection at three digits caught digitally and no way to wiggle out of it on a technicality in the after the fact process. Uncovered by a local legal beagle to get you off removed and clogging over burdened court dockets. You were speeding, pay the fine, ease up on the lead foot simple.

    And a series of small adjustments generated with suggestions from folks within the every town, county, state government departments sought out and implemented.

    Like in the small Maine town schools, what is the bunker oil guzzling class room temperature in the dead of winter? And maybe Jimmy and Jane have to wear more than a t-shirt to avoid being too cool in school. When the temperature is 68 and not 74 degrees. And each degree racketed down translates into thousands of tax payer dollars.

    Or Maine school superintendents are a shared resource, not full time. Same with town managers. Two days a week here, one day a week there. And only a phone call, email away for a question that comes up for greater efficiency. With video conferences to keep up with changes in the fast moving field of education that is no different than any industry today. That needs to be lean and mean to survive and be highly effective. Stay afloat.

    Ways to save money, it’s what frugal Mainers do in their own households constantly. And should not be lost in what happens in running municipal, state, county facilities. It’s not being cheap, it’s survival and how property taxes keep from being raised higher and higher. Which chokes the economy of everyone, small business to individual alike in the small Maine town. Threatening the small Maine town way of life natives enjoy but fear losing.

    I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
    207.532.6573
    info@mooersrealty.com

  • Living In A Small Rural Maine Town, Did I Hear Someone Scream Jackpot?

    Making Yourself Happy Starts Early.
    Happy, Healthy, Outdoor Living In Small Town Maine.

    Less is more can feel like a cruel joke if a person has gotten pretty darn comfortable.

    Not used to many surprises in life so far. And if they have been rather, okay, I won’t candy coat it, downright spoiled. Duped into believing it will always be this way.

    The calm seas, sunny weather, slight breeze the constant daily backdrop in life. Just the way things roll. And naively thinking, believing without having any doubt that it should continue to play out this way, continue.

    Happily ever after until… The end.

    The curtain drops, the house lights come on. Everyone around you fumbles for keys and leaves. Heads for home.

    Small town Maine living is not like that. We don’t live in fear of gloom and doom. It’s just we are closer to real, genuine the way it is. Because we embrace the basics for survival. Never have a full compliment of anything. But adopting the this is as good as she gets. So make the most of it. And move on to being creative. Choosing to be happy, it’s your responsibility not another’s full time job to provide. Digging deeper within to come out the other side of the struggle stronger. Not afraid of getting our hands dirty. Not worried about all the things that could go wrong. That is fear which is a locked door with no key prison. Crippling stinking thinking that is lazy, that is not Maine.

    Money, fame and fortune are not the addiction, tradition in Maine.

    Experiences, education in the day to day create the real wealth. Life becomes better, improves only with hard work, positive thinking, and not getting into a comfortable rut. You have to just be thankful for everyone you love, everything you know and own around you. And that is more than plenty. With a cup runneth over approach to living in a small Maine town.

    WARNING: Not so happy campers, there are not all little red hen types in the audience.

    And blood boiling, ear steaming and stand back poison, venom will flow. This approach to living life is so foreign to anyone that gives up as the stormy weather of lightning, thunder, gale force winds approach. To see what you are made up. For a full turn your head and couch thorough physical. To see what ails you.

    Sourpusses don’t operate on faith, goodness, right thinking and hard work discipline, moderation. They will rain on your parade if you let them. But there are puddles on any path. Be pleasant, say a prayer for them, but don’t let them steal your joy. Or take their you’re only wearing rose color glasses rhetoric too seriously.

    Eeyore’s were not raised in Maine.

    Lack that spirit that clearly is make more from less. Embracing, digging in, making a game of surviving. Good comes out of a tough set of challenging circumstances. Having fun maneuvering them is because we are all never alone, all in this together. And no one gets out alive. So it’s do until you die. Have a purpose, find something to channel your talents to help others. All the time. Like a judge, you are appointed for life. Responsible, willing, just knowing this is what your task is, where you are needed. You are the puzzle piece that fits…(snapping sound) right here.

    Inspirational quotes, scripture for the task, duty, chore at hand is built into each and every Mainer.

    Parents, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles along with the teachers, pastors, coaches, farmers, small business owner employers and everyone else rubbing shoulders in a small Maine town. Some kind of connected. All rowing the boat together for a common goal. The greater good. There are never enough people for a full bench in each baseball dug out, hockey box, gym bench. To have too many options of who to play. Limited becomes the foundation. The bed rock that is a given. That causes you to get more out of less. But good comes out of the experience. Less cooks in the kitchen helps efficiency and limit the debates too when there is an important task at hand.

    More skin in the game. When it is less people for more work needing to be done.

    Find Your Way, Life Path In Maine.
    Lighting The Way With The Bridges You Burn, Not Quite How We Do It In Maine.
    Greater importance, depending on you to show up and do your part. You would be missed if not there at the local event. And Mainers do show up because there is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer in Maine. Not just a task. It defines the person.

    They push themselves to do more. Because when their head cranks around, everyone else is hustling. Not whining, not working just hard enough to avoid replacement.

    Passionate, driven, excited, or determined to be relieved to just be done. Glad it’s over for another year. Like picking rocks in a spring Maine farm field.

    Something bigger, deeper, more internal fuels the drive.

    The way you do the job, the opinion from others working just as hard have of you is important too. It is nice to be appreciated. But that is not the slow drip of lighter fluid that maintains the RPM’s to get the job done. The reward is in the way you pitch in, perform the task at hand. We all scream jackpot, think we we did win because we are lucky enough to just live in Maine.

    Not seeking or needing praise, but basking in the little that comes your way just the same.

    You knowing you did an admirable job or not. Believing in yourself comes from hard work. The changes in you that life puts your through. Always think of the blacksmith with the roaring forge. Sparks flying as the sharp biting sound of a hammer strikes, shapes, reforms the red hot steel. That is my image of what living in Maine does to a person over time.

    You don’t want to disappoint. Just like the respect for your parents and anyone in authority that you accept as just trying to help you. Knowing they love you, guide you, care about you. And have expectations for you to fulfill. There is a trust, not a resistance or adopting an attitude of “don’t tell me what to do”. It is the right thing to do and what quickly happens when never the luxury of pinch hitters, no substitutes. You are up. Always playing. There would be no game without you.

    You are all there is baby in an sparsely underpopulated small Maine town. And that is okay. Sets just fine because you raise your hand. Gladly sign up for what needs to be done in a small Maine down. Where if you don’t, no one else will because others already have their hands full. So you gladly do your part to make the small rural Maine town what it is. Special, home grown, unique and fiercely proud, loyal. Less is more, way more living in a Maine small town.

    I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
    207.532.6573
    info@mooersrealty.com

  • (“Cheers” Song In Background) Maine Small Town Living.

    (“Cheers” Song In Background) Maine Small Town Living.

    There Is A Connection In Small Maine Towns.
    Celebrating The Fourth Of July In A Small Maine Town.

    In a small Maine town practically everyone does know your name.

    Fewer people living in the small population rural regions of Maine means no one gets lost in the shuffle. Most of us travel in the same circles. Things get down quicker with Dave and the sling shot efficiency too. Because there is a familiarity that leaves no one in the dark. Today’s routine of getting a large black coffee before starting the day proves that.

    I swing in to McDonald’s and there is just enough space, one car length to get the rear end of the Jeep out of the lane of traffic that would side swipe it otherwise. I’m thinking why not just pull in to a parking space, trot in and be out way way before the tail end of this wagon train gets to the drive through pick up window.

    I hit the McDonald’s lobby, not needing a happy meal or breakfast burrito.

    First guy I see is Snookie Bossie, an old snow sledding buddy. Friend and classmate of my oldest brother Stephen who told me if you are in Canada and get in a rumble, Snookie and the older Roger Howland are the two you need for protection to race back to the border. Snook prefers you call him Will but good luck shaking that novel, unique a high school nickname. How many Snookie’s have you known in your life time? Snook grins, asks where I am preaching today? Likes my matching suit.

    small towns big lakes photo
    Float Your Boat, Get Outside To Enjoy The Scenery Happens In Small Town Maine.

    I smile and tell him no funerals, no sermon or services today but have an action packed real estate day ahead of me. Five closings last week in one day was a proud achievement but I tell him Robin, my secretary of twenty years gets the credit. More a business partner than an assistant. Elliot, my youngest as a full time single Dad was not even two when Robin signed on to the payroll.

    Then I think as Snookie smiles, hey wait a minute.

    He trained my secretary who worked at Ward Log Cabin 20 years ago. Robin said he was a boss that wanted it done right, or do it over. She liked that and does not like messing up, not getting it done right. Other secretaries in the pool did not take so fondly for his business like, right is right attitude. Robin embraced it, did not take it personally when criticized. It’s like conflict resolutions, focus on the problem, don’t attack the person.

    Then Arnold Bulley who is a manager at McDonald’s says hello, waves on the way, zipping by behind the counter. David Grant, a friend of an older brother Jonathan and classmate of 1967 grabs my elbow and says hello on the way out. He has the day off from defending the US / Canadian border today. Snookie is “chalmerizing” his wife’s car, a loving gesture in his retirement. While waiting for it to warm up, go for a motorcycle ride.

    Any one outside Houlton Maine would wonder what the heck “chalmerize” means.

    Chalmer Karnes is or was the best car detailer in the business. And if there was a world series or Olympics for auto detailing, my money would be on the Chalmer of years ago. When he was in his prime.

    houlton maine downtown photo
    Brick Solid, Victorian Classic. That’s Houlton Maine, County Seat For Aroostook.

    Silver haired, always smiling Paul Callnan, a CPA wanders by with a breakfast tray and I figure he is taking the needed “you deserve a break today” after tax season.

    Know him well through service in Rotary.

    Rode on the same Houlton Maine yellow school bus lucky number thirteen growing up. Was at the University of Maine at Orono in the same freshman dorm Aroostook a few years back before joining TKE fraternity. Moving out and being on the north end of the UMO campus. No longer at the extreme south end to walk to a cold winter 8 AM college class with a strong breeze and no black flies in the dead of winter in Maine.

    And then the large, careful it’s hot hot black coffee I trotted in for is handed to me.

    Without asking me is this your order. Because the lady on the drive through sees me, knows what I am after. And with NASCAR efficiency delivers it. All done with in just a few minutes. The drive back to the Maine real estate office is a quarter mile, does not take ten minutes like a city.

    So Much Going On In Small Maine Towns. Get Involved, Pitch In And Make A Difference Happens.

    Thinking nothing of it, I left the Darth Vadar black jeep running, unlocked when I hopped out. Parked it at McDonalds. Keys in it. XM percolating, purring out of the speakers. Did not have to worry the 4WD SUV would be gone when I came out with my steaming cup of Joe. Or it being up on jack stands with the tires and wheels missing. Or other parts evaporated, air wrenched off by any five finger discount gang members. Who shop religiously at Midnight Auto Supply.

    We don’t have those events happening in the 46th lowest state for crime, Maine.

    Things on the crime scanner are pretty tame. Instead of worrying about your personal safety you put the energy into improving the area. To help collectively to make things happening around you better than it was.

    I am grateful for the natural, unspoiled beauty of Aroostook County but the people are the greatest asset. Maine, it’s not like this many other places.

    Living in small Maine towns is friendly, helpful, healthy.

    Visit Our Cary Library In Houlton Maine Video.

    Cary Library is one of many local jewels, gems that make Houlton Maine special. Small Maine town living is special and everyone is connected for the common good.

    I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker 

    207.532.6573 | Email info@mooersrealty.com |

    MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA